Associated PressKeshia Baker qualified for the NCAA Championships yesterday in the 400 meters as Oregon kept rolling at the NCAA West Regional.AUSTIN, Texas -- Oklahoma junior Eric Bailey is headed to Hayward Field for the NCAA Championships, and he knows the place well.

Bailey won a Class 6A state 300-meter hurdles championship there for Benson Tech in 2007.

He was the No. 6 qualifier Friday with a time of 50.17 seconds in the NCAA West Regional at Mike A. Myers Stadium.

"I'm happy to be able go home and run in front of everybody," Bailey said. "But I really wanted this to be my sub-50 race. I kind of let it go for a couple hurdles. My steps were off a little bit. I got kind of sloppy. But I'm going home. That's the main thing."

His mom, Karen, never doubted.

"She bought tickets a long time ago," Bailey said. "I said, 'Mom, you never know.' She said, 'I'm buying them just in case.' My mom and dad will be there for sure. Hopefully my coach (at Benson), Leon McKenzie, will be there too."

Bailey spent his freshman season at Weber State, then transferred to Oklahoma, coached by former UO coach Martin Smith.

Eric Bailey"I like it a lot," Bailey said. "It's a big change from Weber State, a lot different culture. I'm fitting in well."

And, he gets to run again at Hayward in the NCAA Championships, June 9-12.

"I'm qualified," he said. "That's the main thing. I've got two more races left."

While Bailey is headed to Hayward, Texas A&M hurdler Natasha Ruddock is not -- at least not in an individual event.

Ruddock, who had the fourth-best college time this season in the 100-meter hurdles heading into the West Regional, strained her left knee warming up for Friday's quarterfinals, and was unable to run.

The Aggies, defending national champions, were considered one of the main threats to Oregon's hopes of winning the women's NCAA title.

The regional, which the NCAA calls the West Preliminary Round, wraps up today. Events to watch for Oregon are the relays (4x100 and 4x400 for the women, 4x400 for the men), the women's triple jump, and the men's and women's 1,500 and 5,000.

The Ducks suffered their first significant setback in the West Regional last night, when steeplechaser Claire Michel was unable to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

UO coach Vin Lananna said afterward that Michel had been struggling with an ankle injury for the past two weeks and, while disappointed for Michel, had not been counting on her as a big scorer in the NCAAs.